Recycling, reuse and rehabilitation of mine wastes

If we want to ensure a sustainable future for the human race, we must learn to prevent, minimize, reuse and recycle waste. Reuse of mine wastes allows their beneficial application, whereas recycling extracts resource ingredients or converts wastes into valuable products. Yet, today, many of the proposed reuse and recycling concepts for mine wastes are not economic. Consequently, the great majority of mine wastes are still being placed into waste storage facilities. Significant research efforts are required to develop cost-effective reuse and recycling options and to prevent the migration of contaminants from rehabilitated waste repositories in the long term.